Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised this episode includes discussions of murder, rape, assault, suicide and self-harm that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

In the spring of 2001, Italian journalist Mario Spezza hesitated, his finger hovering over the buzzer outside an apartment building. He and Douglas Preston, a crime author from America, had traveled to this building to interview the man they believe to be the serial killer known as the Monster of Florence.

But now that they were there, it seemed both men were nervous and they had good reason. They hadn't exactly been invited over. And Mario was a recognizable figure in Italy, well remembered for his tenacious reporting during the monster's murder spree in the 1970s and 80s.

Still, they gathered their wits and pressed the buzzer. No turning back now. When they gave their names, their suspect happily invited them in and with a sharp buzz, they entered the building. When they arrived at the apartment door, they paused again. Both men were sure they were about to come face to face with a vicious serial killer, and there was no telling how this meeting would go. With a final deep breath, Mario raised his hand and knocked.

Hi, I'm Greg Pulsing, this is Serial Killers, a Spotify original fun podcast. Every episode we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're concluding our look at the monster of Florence, one of the deadliest serial killers in Italian history. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Cast for Free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Last time we covered the Monsters murders, we detailed how we snuck up on couples making love in their cars, shot them with a Beretta handgun, then mutilated the women with what was assumed to be a scuba knife.

Today will dive deeper into the investigation and examine how Florentin authorities mishandled the case. We'll also consider the research of reporter Mario Spezza and who he believed the monster really was. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

In a perfect world, the criminal justice system would be dedicated to uncovering the truth. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. Sometimes the search for answers is overtaken by a quest for heroics, a desire to be seen as the one who saved the day.

When that happens, when ego trumps fact, mistakes are made, the wrong people are accused, are arrested, are locked away. And sometimes that allows a monster to remain in the shadows, undiscovered and biding their time. It happened in Italy as authorities made a mess of their search for the monster of Florence, allowing him to strike again and again in the fall of nineteen eighty five.

The monster murdered 36 year old Nadeen Mario and her 25 year old boyfriend, Jean-Michel. Visibly, he watched as the couple made love in their tent in the Scoppetta, clearing a field about nine miles south of Florence.

Then he shot both of them dead, removed Nadine's vagina and left breast with a nöjd knife and left her inside the tent.

The killer took the mutilated body parts with him as gruesome souvenirs, leaving no other evidence behind. However, he didn't hold on to his trophies for very long.

On September 10th, 1985, Florence prosecutor Silvia de la Monica on a strange piece of mail sitting on her desk. The envelope was addressed to her with letters that had been cut from a magazine. When she opened the package, she let out a blood curdling scream. The monster had sent her a piece of Nadine's breast wrapped carefully in tissue paper. Sylvia was terrified.

She was the only woman working on the decade long case, and it appeared that the sadistic killer knew it as such. Sylvia worried that she was being targeted because of her gender and not without reason.

The U.S. is going to take over and the psychology here and throughout the episode, please note the NSA is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. In their book, Sex, Murder and Sex Aggression. Forensic psychologist Louise Schlesinger and psychiatrist Eugene Rorvik assert that many sexual homicides committed by men are, in fact, displaced matricide.

According to Schlesinger and Rorvik, these killers harbor a deep hatred of women because they're unable to recognize or express their feelings of rage and resentment toward their mothers. This kind of maternal anger often develops when the killer is young. As he matures into adulthood, he's unable to psychologically differentiate the women he meets from the mother he hates. Schlesinger and Rorvik found that many factors within the mother son relationship can cause this type of resentment.

Some examples include a mother who is too aggressive or controlling or if she sexualizes her son in any way. It's also important to note that the father is not exempt from blame in these situations when the mother's behavior is coupled with the emotional and or physical absence of the father. These problems are only exacerbated. While we can only speculate on the monster's upbringing, his sadistic behavior towards women suggests he may have harbored an unhealthy view of all women. Whether his mother played a part in that development remains a mystery.

Still, this theory gives us potential insight into why the monster singled out prosecutor Sylvia Dela Monica for the special delivery. And whatever his intentions, the results of his twisted game were swift. Sylvia worried that the disturbing gift signaled that she was the monster's next target. Terrified, she resigned from the case.

Her resignation and the ghastly reason behind it caused the Florentin public to lose even more confidence in their city's law enforcement. By now, the investigation into the monster was the longest and most expensive criminal case in Italian history, and it was clear that the police weren't even close to making an arrest.

The monster had not only eluded authorities for the past 10 years, but it also changed the social landscape of Florence. Prior to the murders, young couples parked along secluded hillsides for a late night rendezvous. But now the national pastime of park and play was associated with murder. Even worse, the knowledge that there was a serial killer in their midst created a simmering, insidious hysteria. Family turned against family, neighbor against neighbor.

The only person who remained unfazed by the monsters ghastly actions was Italy's legendary reporter, 40 year old Mario Betsi. He had covered the murders since 1981, and the Florentine public knew him as the monster stronger.

Based on his research, Mario had a shrewd idea about what to look for when hunting the monster. For starters, the killer was smart enough to evade capture for years, so he knew he was looking for someone intelligent or at least very cunning. Crucially, Mario believed that the monster also had to have a connection to the gun that Stefano mainly used to kill his wife and her lover. In 1968, Stefano's 22 caliber Beretta handgun had been used in every one of the monsters murders.

Frustratingly, the gun hadn't yet turned up.

Unfortunately, the Florentin police didn't seem to share Mario's ideas about the case. Instead of searching for individuals with ties to the gun, authorities arrested men with a prior history of sexual deviance and violent crimes. Close to 100000 men were investigated and several falsely convicted. As a result of the manhunt, countless innocent lives were ruined.

In one extreme case, a doctor named Francesco Sarducci was so upset by the false accusation that he reportedly took his own life.

But as the list of wrongful arrest spiraled out of control, the public began to suspect that the authorities weren't doing their due diligence. To make matters worse, two officials working the case seem to have contradictory ideas about how best to unmask the killer. After taking over from Silvia de la Monica, prosecutor Pier Luigi Viña wanted to start from scratch. He wasn't happy with the way things had progressed thus far, but examining Magistrate Mario Rotella was certain they were on the right track, though he did suspect that they might have simply made a wrong turn somewhere.

So as Venus sought out new suspects, Rotella re-examined the information they already had.

Crucially, Rotella acknowledged that tracking the whereabouts of the Berretta handgun was key to solving the case.

Here's where things get somewhat murky. So stay with us. While the monster's crimes started in 1974, the first recorded use of the Beretta was during the 1968 murder of Stephano. Mellie's wife, Stefano confessed to the killing, but in doing so, he also implied that he wasn't alone that night. If someone else was there, it seems logical that they held on to the murder weapon.

Years later, when evidence showed that Stefano's gun was used in the Monsters murders, investigators looked to Stefano's case for clues. They zeroed in on two possible accomplices, brothers Francesco and Salvatore Binchy. They believed that one of them took the gun home that night and started using it as the monster.

Out of the two brothers, Francesco was the more obvious culprit. He'd been spotted in the vicinity of many of the crimes, and he also had an existing criminal record. So in 1982, Francesco was arrested under suspicion of being the monster.

However, when the monster struck again in 1983, it was clear that the authorities had locked up the wrong man. So Francesco was released and the police went back to the drawing board in 1985 when Rotella reviewed the case in a new light.

He decided that the authorities should have arrested Salvatore Vincey. Instead, it seems they had initially overlooked Salvatore because he didn't share the same rap sheet as his brother.

In fact, Salvatore didn't have a criminal record at all. The father and widower was an introvert and an intellectual who loved engaging in spirited debates with friends. Following his wife's death by suicide in 1961, he'd raised their son Antonio all by himself.

But Salvatore was no angel. It was common knowledge around the town that both Salvatore and Francesco had been sleeping with Stefano, Mellie's wife, prior to her murder. And as Judge Rotella looked deeper into Salvatores past, he uncovered an even more disturbing rumor about Salvatores late wife.

The story Rotella uncovered went as follows. In the late 1950s, young Salvatore began dating a girl named Barberini. Unbeknownst to him, Barberini was also seeing a man named Antonio. At the same time, when Salvatore found out, he felt betrayed and he was furious in vengeance. He allegedly ambushed Barberini and raped her when she discovered she was pregnant. As a result of the attack, she and Salvatore married so that their child wasn't born out of wedlock.

In February, nineteen sixty eight year old Barberini gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

The story goes that as a slight to her new husband, she insisted they name their son Antonio after her one true love.

Meanwhile, Barberini carried on an illicit affair with her lover until November of that year, when they were discovered sneaking around the Sardinian countryside.

A friend spotted the couple, took pictures and showed them to Salvatore, who was livid.

News of the affair was likely a devastating blow to Salvatore Ziko, but one he wouldn't be forced to endure for a long. Just two months later, in January of 1961, Salvadori arrived home late on the night of January 14th, 1961, to find baby Antonio asleep in his crib. Strangely, the crib was in the living room instead of his parents room.

Upon closer inspection, Salvatore discovered that the door to the bedroom was closed and the lights were on paranoid. He assumed that 19 year old Barberini was inside entertaining her lover.

He left the house in an angry rush to round up some friends. But when they returned and pushed open the bedroom door, they discovered Barberini all alone, seemingly fast asleep. Salvatore's friends shrugged and began to leave.

But then Salvatore's screamed that he could smell gas in the air. No one else could smell it. But his friends noticed a propane tank was next to the bed. The valve was open and a tube was lying on the pillow. That was when they noticed that Bob Erina wasn't sleeping at all.

She was dead when the authorities arrived. Salvatore's friends corroborated his story and assured authorities that he had been with them for most of the night. They also revealed that Barbara Rena had been distressed following the discovery of her affair. To the authorities, suicide seemed like a likely conclusion, despite a number of suspicious scratches and bruises on Barbara Anna's face. It's possible that suicide was the easiest option to deal with, so that's what was recorded.

Even if there were lingering questions, authorities never had the opportunity to follow up. Shortly after his wife's death, Salvatore and baby Antonio left Sardinia and moved to Florence. He found a job as a bricklayer and found lodging in Stefano mainlines home. After settling into his new community, Salvatore seemed like an upstanding citizen. But 24 years later, Magistrate Rotella closed in on Salvatori as a possible suspect in the Monster of Florence case, looking into Salvatores past, he re-examined Barberi in his death and found himself leaning towards a different version of events.

Rotella read in the case files that the propane tank Barberini supposedly used to kill herself had been empty. Earlier that night, Barberini had visited a neighbors to warm up some milk for her baby because she had no gas left at home. The tank in question couldn't be refilled, only replaced. So it seems highly unlikely that Barberini could possibly abuse the tank to kill herself.

There was also the matter of all the bruises and scratches on Barbara face and neck. It seems that in 1961 the police ignored or overlooked these marks, even though they indicated that Barberini may have been suffocated to death.

But now, on the hunt for a vicious killer, Rotella looked at the evidence with a more critical eye. He came to the conclusion that there was more to Salvatore Vincey than police first thought.

Coming up, Salvatore, Vinces murky past comes to light.

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Now back to the story. In late 1985, examining Magistrate Mario Rotella had a sneaking suspicion he knew who the monster of Florence was, his investigation into Salvatore Vinci unearthed a slew of disturbing rumors, including that Salvatore had possibly murdered his wife.

If that wasn't bad enough, Rotella was particularly upset by Salvatore's behavior. In the years since, he was already aware that Salvadori had had an affair with the wife of his landlord, Stefano, Mellet. But that wasn't all. Salvadori was also sleeping with other women and men throughout the town, often at the same time.

Salvatore wasn't just salacious. He was insatiable. It's believed he often engaged in orgies, forcing whoever he was dating at the time to get involved. According to one ex lover, he would yank her by the hair or slap her face if she didn't join in.

Some people who attended these sex parties remarked that Salvatore's sexual interests knew no bounds. He liked to get rough and incorporate props into his sex play. Some of these objects, like vibrators, made sense, but others, like zucchinis and eggplants, seemed somewhat more outlandish. What made this interest more sinister was that many of Salvatore's partners were reluctant to use these props.

But he reportedly insisted after hearing about his sexual proclivities, Rotella was more certain than ever that Salvatore Vinci was the monster of Florence to the investigator. Salvatore was a sexual deviant who might have killed his own wife. What's more, Salvatore also had the opportunity to take the Beretta gun from his landlord, Stefano, mainly with the pieces all coming together.

It was time for Rotella to take action.

On June 11th, 1986, Rotella had Salvatore Binchy arrested for murder, but he wasn't charged for the monster's crimes. Instead, he was tried for killing his wife, Barberini.

In 1961, Rotella figured that the murder of Barberini was a simpler case, one that would be easier to prove if Salvadori was convicted of one murder. Rotella hoped that convicting him for the monstrous crimes would be a cakewalk.

But things didn't quite go according to plan. When his trial began on April 12th, 1988, Salvatore was painstakingly careful on the stand. He replied to each question with thoughtful consideration.

However, his son Antonio behaved quite differently. Now, in his late 20s, he was called to testify against his father and it was clear that the pair did not have a good relationship.

According to witnesses, hostile energy rolled off Antonio and waves during his testimony from behind black sunglasses. He refused to take off. He glared at his father as if he had a vendetta against Salvatore.

In response, Salvatore stared right back his mouth, a grim line. The tension between the two men was apparent to everyone in the courtroom, including 42 year old journalist Mario Betsi.

Mario was covering the case for Lugazi on a newspaper. After the trial, Antonio told the legendary reporter that if there weren't an abundance of police officers in the room with them, he would have strangled his father right then and there. But Salvatore was spared his son's wrath as well as the justice system as punishment.

Ultimately, Salvatore was found innocent of his wife's murder. The crime had simply happened too long ago for a sufficient case to be made against him. Witnesses had since passed away and evidence had been destroyed.

Understandably, Salvatore was eager to put the case behind him. Following the trial, he told friends he was going to visit family on the island of Sardinia. But as far as we can tell, he never arrived. To this day, no one knows where Salvatore Vinci is or whether or not he's alive.

Unfortunately, examining Magistrate Rotella couldn't as easily escape the shame of his defeat. His plan to unmask his pick for the monster of Florence had backfired. Following the trial, he withdrew from the investigation and left Florence for good. Like so many before him, he had failed.

But though the search for answers had defeated yet another investigator, prosecutor Pier Luigi, Binya remained on the case, and in his quest, he opted to ignore the murder weapon and simply look for suspects with a history of sexual crimes. It was a tactic that police had tried in 1974.

With Rotella gone, it seemed that investigators weren't interested in following the physical evidence to the killer. That search was taking too long and led to frustrating dead ends, both of which were bad for the police forces reputation in Florence. And it was a reputation in freefall. Many premature arrests and. And some overturned convictions in the case resulted in a public but little trust in their police, they'd locked up too many innocent men while the real killer remained free. It was a terrifying thought.

Fortunately, the monsters murderous urges seemed to have subsided. He hadn't claimed any victims since 1985. And as the 80s drew to a close, the police seemed hesitant to make any more unwarranted arrests. So with little to report, the papers moved on and people stopped talking about the monster.

But despite the waning public interest, police continue to search for the monster. In 1989, Florentin authorities reached out to the FBI for help based on their extensive research on serial killers. Quantico's Behavioral Science Unit drew up a Thukral profile on the monster and sent it to Italy.

However, the profile they came up with didn't match what local investigators had in mind for the killer. So it seems it was largely ignored for years. That is, until one tenacious journalist got a hold of the report.

In the early 1990s, Mario Spezza was working as a freelance journalist, but still spent much of his time looking into his favorite story, The Monster of Florence. It was during this continued search for answers that Mario found out about the discarded FBI profile. One of his contacts slipped him a copy of the report, allowing Mario a chance to read about the monster through the eyes of the FBI.

Crucially, the report classified the monster of Florence as a lost murderer. According to special agents Robert Hazelwood and John Douglas, lost murderers are distinguished from other sadistic killers by their use of genital and sexual mutilation during their crimes. They also categorized lust killers into two personality types disorganized, asocial and organized nonsocial. Unfortunately, the report didn't indicate which of these two categories the monster might fall into. However, because his victims were left in or near where they were killed, it seems he better fits the disorganized descriptor.

Disorganized, asocial murderers tend to feel rejected by other people and will usually keep them at bay. Because of this, they often have difficulty maintaining any kind of relationship and are typically described as loners by the few people who know them. Interestingly, a disorganized, asocial killer will usually murder close to where they live because it makes them feel safe. So although the monster had taken risks like mailing body parts to a prosecutor, it seems he was still inclined to stay within his comfort zone.

Moreover, the FBI profile said that the monster likely killed in locations that he knew well, places where he was sure people engaged in some form of sexual activity. Once there, he would watch the couple as they made love, then strike using surprise and speed to his advantage.

The FBI profilers believed that the monster's male victims were nothing more than obstacles to be removed, which is why he always killed them first. Then he got down to the real reason he was there. The mutilation of the women, the horrific removal of vaginas and breasts might have represented a need to possess the women the monster attacked. That's also why he typically moved the bodies away from where their lovers lay. He wanted complete control over the ritual he was performing.

The FBI profile was thorough and intriguing. Infuriatingly, it seemed to have gone to waste. But now that Mario Spezia had a copy, he wanted to use it to track the monster down once and for all. Coming up, Mario meets the man he believes to be the monster of Florence. Now back to the story.

In the early 1990s, reporter Mario Spezza learned that the Florentin police had ordered an FBI profile on the monster of Florence. He also discovered that the authorities had hidden that report because the suspect he described didn't match anyone they had arrested.

Now, Mario wondered what else the police had kept hidden from the public. He began to ask around getting in touch with his old contacts from the police department.

Eventually, he discovered the depth of the conflicts about the investigation, even among the investigators, after Salvatore Binchy was acquitted of murder in nineteen eighty eight, examining Magistrate Mario Rotella was asked to resign from the case and lead prosecutor Pier Luigi Binya took over.

However, some members of the police department disagreed with Virginia's approach to the case and started a secret investigation of their own, like Rotella.

They wanted to track the whereabouts of the Berretta gun used in all the monsters murders.

Their search uncovered a document that potentially held the key to locating the missing murder weapon. It was a police report from May of 1974 documenting a break in at the home of none other than Salvatore Vincey. Curiously, Salvatore had stated that he didn't know what had been stolen. At first glance, the complaint was confusing. While Salvatore was adamant that someone had broken into his home, he had nothing to report missing. Additionally, Salvatore was relatively poor. His ramshackle home was small, and he didn't seem to own anything of value.

Still, he insisted that the police file a report of the break-In. He even went so far as to tell them who he thought the culprit was, saying that he wanted this person's name on the record.

It was someone he knew, someone he was close with, someone who under normal circumstances should have been the last person Salvatore wanted to throw to the wolves his son, Antonio Vincent.

As Mario brewed over this new information, he finally thought he'd found the missing piece of the puzzle. Maybe Salvatore did have something of value in his home after all, something he couldn't admit to authorities. Perhaps it was the 22 caliber Beretta gun used in a double homicide years earlier. And if Salvatores accusation was correct, then his son should surely be a prime suspect in the Monster of Florence case. Just four months after Salvatori reported the break in, the monster struck for the first time, killing teenage lovers Stefania Pattani and Pasquale Gentil corres.

According to Morio sources, Salvatori checked himself into the psychiatric ward at Santa Maria Nuova Hospital right around the same time.

It's entirely possible that if Salvatori suspected his son abusing the berretta to carry out the brutal murders, that he felt an unbearable guilt. In their book, The Monster of Florence, Mario and Crime, author Douglas Preston theorized that Salvatore may have sought treatment to get himself through this revelation.

Historically, relatives of serial killers have had varied responses to finding out their family members are murderers, according to Michael Price, a professor of evolutionary psychology. People have, quote, strong psychological and emotional incentives to defend and remain loyal to the family member and to delude and self deceive themselves about the reality of their relatives guilt. But not everyone has this reaction in order to protect their own evolutionary success. Some family members may instinctively disassociate themselves from the killer to avoid being ostracized.

It's entirely possible that if he suspected his son was the monster, Salvatore did a little of both.

It's important to remind you that these theories remain just that theories.

Still, if we follow the logic, some pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place. Back in 1974, when he named his own son as a burglar, Salvatore was potentially protecting his own self-interest. Perhaps he did so in case the missing 22 caliber Beretta gun was ever linked back to him.

Unfortunately, by the time Mario believed he was on the trail of the missing gun in the late 1990s, Salvatori was long gone, unseen since his acquittal in 1988. So there was no one Mario could turn to to verify his theory.

And according to Mario, the police were willing to help chase down any of his leads, which only left one option if he wanted to confirm that Antonio Vincey was indeed the monster of Florence, Mario was going to have to talk to the man himself. So on a brisk spring night in 2001, 55 year old Mario and 44 year old American crime writer Douglas Preston ventured just west of Florence to pay Antônio a visit when the two writers appeared unannounced.

Antonio immediately recognized Mario, and interestingly, he seemed amused by the visit. He offered his guests some drinks, sat them down at his kitchen table and asked what they needed.

Mario said truthfully that he and Douglas were writing an article about the monster of Florence for The New Yorker. But he fudged a little, saying that the interview was completely routine, just a small part of a big series about the monster.

They eased in with some casual conversation before Mario eventually started talking about the murders. When he asked Antonio about his relationship with his father, the young man paused. Then Antonio explained that he and his dad never really saw eye to eye. He said they had often gotten into physical fights, even when he was just a little boy.

Antonio described one particular argument in detail and said, We had a fight and I pinned him planting my scuba knife at his throat.

This was a juicy tidbit for the two writers to hear. The Monster of Florence was known for using a notch knife to mutilate his victims, and many forensic analysts had speculated that it was a scuba knife.

But it's possible Antonio knew that Mario had written all about the case in national newspapers, and his stories included theories about the weapon. Maybe he was toying with his guests, or perhaps he had inadvertently revealed a crucial connection between himself and the monster. Then again, maybe it meant nothing and was simply a coincidence.

Mario pressed on with the interview, pointing out clue after clue that indicated Antonio might be the killer, but Antonio wasn't fazed and reportedly shrugged them all off. When asked if he had stolen the Beretta from his dad, Antonio shook his head. No, he said, if I had taken it, I would have fired it into my father's forehead.

When Mario mentioned that the murders stopped between 1975 and 1980, five years during which Antonio didn't live in Florence, Antonio merely smiled. And when they asked him outright if he was the monster, they got an unequivocal no. So that was that, but when the men stood up to leave, Antonio leaned in and said to Mario, Listen carefully, I don't play games.

No doubt the visit would have left both men rattled, but they were unshakable in their belief that they'd finally found the monster of Florence. His potential link to the Berretta handgun and familiarity with Scooba knives seemed too strong to be pure coincidence. Additionally, the men noted Antonio's history of aggression towards his father and his frightening warning at the end of their interview, which seemed to line up with the FBI profile of the monster in their minds. The search was over.

So during the summer of 2001, the two writers worked tirelessly on their story for The New Yorker. They felt sure that once their theory about Antonio was published, the Italian police would have no choice but to formally open an investigation. Unfortunately, Mario and Douglas's story was pulled before it could go to print a bigger event. The terror attacks of September 11 made headlines around the world, eclipsing all other news. No one in America wanted to read about the mystery of some unsolved Italian cold cases.

And no one in Italy seemed to care about Mario's suspicions either. At least no one involved in the investigation. By that time, the prosecutor's office was fixated on their pursuit of another sensational lead, one that involved a satanic cult.

In response, Mario penned articles poking holes in the outlandish cult theory. And this, it seemed, was the final straw. The Florentine police had had enough of Mario's meddling in 2004.

They illegally invaded Mario's home, rifled through his belongings and stole everything they could find on the monster.

Fortunately, Mario's wife managed to hide a digital copy of all of his notes. It's because of her quick thinking that Mario was able to continue his research into Antonio.

But the police didn't leave it at that. In 2006, they accused Mario himself of being the monster of Florence and threw him in jail.

But Mario was a beloved and respected journalist, so the case against him quickly fell apart thanks to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the free press.

Mario was released after 23 days, and despite his clashes with Florentin police, he was still determined to unmask the monster once and for all.

So in 2008, he and Douglas published an entire book on the case entitled The Monster of Florence. Unfortunately, the book didn't make the splash that they had hoped. By that stage, there were simply too many conspiracy theories about the monster. And a tale focused on unearthing concrete facts was no match for the more sensational stories out there.

Maddeningly, there seems little hope of ever uncovering the truth. Now it's been too long, and there were too many false accusations, arrests and convictions. Even if the monster is unmasked, it's possible no one will believe it at this stage. They've heard it all before.

We'd like to tell children the story of the boy who cried wolf. Playing practical jokes. A young boy cries out for help, claiming a wolf is nearby. When people come running and see that there is no wolf, he's warned that his credibility hangs in the balance.

Eventually, after the boy repeats his game, a wolf does come when the boy screams for help. No one believes him and he has devoured. It seems lucky, then, that in the years since his last attack, the Monster of Florence has never taken advantage of the authorities bungled attempts to appear as heroes.

They cried Monster, but eventually people stopped listening.

Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode for more information on the Monster of Florence.

Amongst the many sources we used, we found The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezza extremely helpful to our research.

You can find all episodes of Serial Killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify.

Will see you next time. Have a killer week.

Serial Killers is a Spotify original from podcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cuddler Sound Design by Michael Motian with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden and Bruce Kaktovik. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Lee Reid with writing assistants by Jane Doe and Joel Kaplan, fact checking by Hayley Millicom and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Poulsen and Vanessa Richardson. Hi, it's Vanessa again. Before you go, don't forget to check out the new Parkhurst Limited series.

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